What does this story say about people in general? In what ways does it remind you of people you know, experiences, you have had, other stories, a movie, and/or pieces of art?
REMEMBER: In order to be "insightful" and "perceptive" you should try connecting everything to the theme (what it says about people in general).
***Also, remember that correct spelling, grammar, and mechanics enhance the clarity of your responses. Please refer to the previously given "BLOG RUBRIC" to help understand my expectations. I might also look at previous blogs in this class to give you a sense of what you need to do.
I'VE BEEN READING SOME OF THESE. MAKE SURE THAT YOU ARE CONNECTING TO THE STORY!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
26 comments:
This story says that people generally want things and try to get them as hard as they can, usually. This reminds me of when I was a small child. I wanted many things, but my parents did not spoil me. They told me that if I was patient, I might get what I wanted. Waverly is told by her mother to “Bite back your tongue”. When Waverly obeys, her mother rewards her with a small bag of plums. Though I have never wanted plums or anything to do with plums in whole life, I am able to connect to this part of the story. Another connection that I have is at the end of the story, when Waverly is not allowed a the table and her mother says “We not concerning this girl. This girl not have concerning for us.” This reminds me of a person I once knew, who liked to boast of others. When the others grew tired of this individual’s bragging, they would become frustrated. The braggart would behave rudely toward them after their frustrations were voiced. This was similar to how Waverly’s mother provoked her.
“Rules of the Game,” by Amy Tan has a central theme that says a lot about how people are really like on the inside. The theme is that no matter how bonded and similar you are with someone else, or how much of a relationship you have, you still need time alone to strive for your own, personal independence.
In the story, “Rules of the Game,” a young girl named Waverly starts playing chess, even though at first, her mother doesn’t really want her to. But, later, her mother accepts that she is playing. Eventually, Waverly ends up winning a national chess tournament and gets to be on the front cover of Life magazine. But, eventually, they start to run into disagreements. That happens a lot with people who are very similar. They think that they should both agree, but each one has their own way of seeing the situation. Waverly’s mom is going through a shop, flaunting her daughter, showing her to everyone there. When they leave, Waverly says,” I wish you wouldn’t do that, telling everybody I’m your daughter.” After that, Waverly runs away and doesn’t go back home for a few hours. When she does come back, her mother said that Waverly does not concern her anymore. Already, the first act of running away was a start of trying to find her personal independence. But, when she goes back to her room and says that she was “planning her next move,” I think that she was really plotting her next move towards her independence.
I can easily compare this scenario to my life. My family and I were at a party and my parents were telling everyone all about me and the classes that I am in in school and the grades I get and everything like that. So, I told them that I really don’t like it when they talk about me like that. Well, my parents took offence from that and got really mad at me. So, I really didn’t talk to them for a few days. But, in the end, we ended up apologizing and we were a family again. We put our differences aside and did what would have been best for everyone. I can also relate this story to the move Watchmen. In the beginning of the movie, the Watchmen would help the police and the government. But, the government turned on them and they were not allowed to fight crime anymore because they were getting tangled up in the affairs. But, they went and sought their won independence and ended up fighting crime anyway. They went their own way, even though their sole “provider” had given up on them.
I think this story tells hat people in general will always change from what they have been told when they are fed up with something. Also, when you succeed and gain certain advantages or money you will always become greedy and want more than you deserve. This story connects to the book “The Last Battle Of The Icemark” This reminded me of that book because when Waverly got fed up with her mother she challenged her and ran away. Like what I did when I wanted this legos set and my mom wouldn’t buy it I ran away in toys R us and hid in the gaming section till she found and made me go home. When we got home I was grounded. That is what the story tells us of what people in general are like and how my life connects to it.
n the story “The Rules of the Game”, Waverly learns to play chess and by her ninth birthday, she’s a national chess champion. Throughout the story, Waverly begins to find her independence. She slowly needs her mother less and less, and by the end, her mother is her opponent, “two angry black slits who wore a triumphant smile.” This story’s theme has to do with family relationships, but more specifically, mother versus daughter relationships. Waverly’s mother even says, “We are not concerning this girl. This girl not have concerning for us.”
I think every girl can relate to this, however, my friend is the one that comes to mind when I think of mother/daughter relationships. When she was in elementary school, she clung her mother’s side and cried for her when she was away. Once she began to find her independence, she wanted nothing to do with her mother except for her to put food on her plate. Ok, maybe that’s a little exaggerated, but they do spend a good amount of their time together bickering and her mom tends to embarrass her. This is just like how Waverly feels when she goes out in public with her mom, who announces to everyone that Waverly, the chess champ, is her daughter.
In addition, when Waverly says, “I closed my eyes and pondered my next move” at the end of the story, she is referring to how she’s going to gain the independence she’s striving for. What this story says about people in general is, kids grow up and need their space. However, some parents don’t give that space, so, they too ‘ponder their next move’ to get what they’ve wanted, their independence.
In the short story, “Rules of the Game” by Amy Tan, it shows that people are generally good. There are those that are bad, but they turn bad because of an event that happened in their life. For example, when Waverly started winning chess games she was able to get out of doing her chores, finishing diner and even getting her own room. She got these things because she was being selfish. She also let winning get to her head. Before she was good at chess she would not have been able to get away with these things. Her mother also began to brag too much about Waverly. This made her a different person and less liked by her daughter. Later in the story Waverly disrespects her mom and then while sitting in her room she realizes that she is losing, “the game of life,” against her mother. She sees this in a metaphor where she is playing a game of chess against her mother. I can connect to this theme because in the short story, “The One Who Watches,” the main character Doris is good and she hangs out with Yolanda who is bad. Yolanda was probably a good person who turned bad because she never spent time with her parents. This is similar because they are both good people that turned bad because of an event in their lives. This is what the story says about people in general.
This story shows the overbearing cycle of pushing and pride. As a proverb states, “Football is a game of two halves.” To better fit the theme in this story, one could say “Chess is a game of two halves.” This means that in any game of competition, the tables can turn and someone will be the winner and someone will be the loser. From reading the story “Rules of the Game,” it is evident that Waverly and her mother are very competitive. Waverly’s mother always wants Waverly to succeed and win in Chess, turning the once recreational hobby to a chore. Towards the end of the story, Waverly had won many games, tournaments, and trophies, enough to get her on the cover of TIME magazine. This gives Waverly’s mother excessive pride, so much that she feels the need to show her off in the market. Waverly became fed up with this behavior. “Why do you have to use me to show off?” she confronted her mother, “If you want to show off, then why don’t you learn to play chess?” The aggression kept building up until it exploded. Waverly had to escape from her mother’s overbearing ruling and pride; she ran away. In this story, Waverly’s mother had won the battle of pride and recognition and was exalted with happiness. However, despite her many wins of chess games, Waverly lost the battle for her mother’s approval and pride after she fled. Her mother even said, “We not concerning this girl. This girl not have concerning for us.”
A similar situation once happened to me. When I was 7 years old, my parents enrolled me in piano lessons. The novelty of it made me enjoy it. I would practice Mary Had a Little Lamb all day. However, it soon became less fun and games. As I progressed to Bach’s minuets and Tchaikovsky nocturnes, I enjoyed it less. However, I still was forced to attend my lessons and practice at least 30 minutes a day. Like Waverly’s mom, my parents were investing their money and energy to make sure that I played my daily dose of piano so I could be a good musician. However, by the time I was in sixth grade, five years later, I told them that I quit. Like Waverly, my parents had pushed me to exceed, while they “won their game of chess”, however, my lack of enthusiasm was when I “lost my half of the game.”
In the story “Rules of the Game” by Amy Tan the main theme that is spread throughout the whole story is respect your elders. Waverly is a young Chinese-American girl who lives her life day to day without too much importance. But that all changes when she receives a chess set for a Christmas gift. She devolves into an excellent chess player and uses her new found glory to persuade her mom to let her do whatever she desires. What this says about people in general is that they respect their elders until they have risen above their elders in skill or brains. So, when Waverly clearly shows more knowledge than her mother, she begins respecting her less and less. For example when Waverly’s mother stands over one of Waverly’s practice sessions she replies with, “Ma, I can’t practice when you stand there like that…she retreated to the kitchen.” In fact as the story continues Waverly loses more and more respect for her mother like when she, “If you want to show me off, then why don’t you learn how to play chess.”
A general connection I can make with the theme of this story, or respect your elders, is that in America most children have a lot less respect for their parents than children in other countries. For example, I know somebody who treats their parents with such complete disrespect and gets away with it. I would think that if that would happen anywhere else in the world the kid would be in deep trouble. Another way I can connect with the theme is by a book I read called, “Gone” In the story a kid wishes his mother was gone because he thought she was a horrible mother. Eventually his wish is granted and all the adults in the world disappear, and he finally learns that you should always respect and cherish your elders because without them life would be completely different
This story generally says sometimes things that people want bad enough can get in between an important relationship, in this case, the relationship between Waverly and her mother. Waverly was an amazing chess player and she was nationally ranked by the time she was nine years old. At first her mother thought allowing her to play chess was a bad idea, but eventually her mother grew proud that Waverly was such a great chess player and was her daughter. When Waverly starts doing nothing, but going to school, eating, sleeping, and playing chess she starts to become distant from her family, especially her mother, who wants to spend time with her daughter. When Waverly and her mother go to the supermarket together, Waverly starts to get embarrassed because Waverly's mother begins to show her off to strangers. Waverly runs away from her mother and the store, this is where the story ends, but it is also foreshadowing that there will now be a battle between Waverly and her mother. This story reminds me of my sister about a year ago when she was still looking for a college. She wanted to go to the University of Delaware as her top school and UCONN as her second favorite school, but my dad said that Delaware was too far away. She got really angry at my dad and didn't speak to him for almost a week. Something that my sister wanted badly enough got in between her relationship with my dad for a little while.
“Rules of the Game” by Amy Tan says a lot about people in general. The theme of the story is that people always want their children to be better than themselves. In this story, Waverly wants to be thought of as an adult by her mother and her mother only wants her to succeed in whatever she may do. Her passion turns out to be playing chess, and her mother is over the moon with pride. In the end, Waverly wins a national championship, but loses some of her mother’s respect when she runs away. I can relate Waverly’s situation to the TV show “Gossip Girl.” In the series, Jenny wants to be a fashion designer at a young age, and her father supports that decision. However, he wants Jenny to finish school first. Jenny goes behind his back and gets a job as a fashion designer’s assistant. Her father is very disappointed but she doesn’t care. Jenny even goes as far as to divorce her dad, but doesn’t follow through. In the end, though, Jenny comes to her senses and acts like a normal kid again. This is similar to Waverly’s situation because both her and Jenny want to have more freedom from their parents. Therefore, the theme of “Rules of the Game” is that people generally want their children to exceed in whatever they may decide to do.
In the short story “Rules of the Game,” it says a lot about people in general. In the story Waverly and her mother were very alike in many ways. They were both extremely competive, showed much pride, and were both very stubborn. These three qualities can make two people who love each other get it to arguments. Waverly and her mother never really got into arguments until Waverly kept winning chess games, tournaments, championships and finally became on the cover of Life. Her mother went around showing Waverly off and Waverly didn’t like it. Finally Waverly said, “ Why do you have to show me off? If you want to show off, then why don’t you learn to play chess.” This story says that what you learn from people, in this case “bite your tongue,” you might not be able to stick with what you learned. Waverly’s mother always would say to Waverly Bite your tongue,” meaning hold back to what you are going to stay. Waverly knew she always had to but when her mother didn’t stop showing Waverly off, she had to do something.
I can connect to this story because my sister and father are very alike. They are both impatient and that makes them get into many arguments, just like Waverly and her mother. My sister always tries to “bite her tongue,” to what my father says, but sometimes she just can’t. My dad gets very upset, just like Waverly’s mom because it’s a very bad feeling knowing your daughter just back sassed someone of higher authority. As I was reading this story it made me realize how bad my dad and sister felt when they got into arguments. Bad for my dad because he feels disobeyed just like Waverly’s Mom. And my sister because she always feels terrible after she says cruel things to my dad, just like Waverly did when she talked back to her mother for the first time.
The story “Rules of the Game” says a lot about people in general. One thing that it says about people in general is, don’t underestimate your opponent. In the beginning of the story Vincent, Waverly’s brother, wouldn’t let her play Waverly begged him, “Let me! Let me!” but he never did. Then one day when Waverly put some life savors as a wager to who wins the game. Vincent finally let her play. He was thinking he would easily win the game and get the prize. Vincent underestimated Waverly, and he lost the game. Waverly went on to play chess tournaments. Her mother didn’t think that she would win her first tournament, but she did. As Waverly went on to play and win more chess tournaments she realized that she was able to use it as an excuse to get what she wanted with her mother. For example, she complained that she couldn’t practice with her brothers in her room. Waverly got her own room and her mom made her brothers sleep in the living room. She was also excused from the table without finishing dinner in order to practice. One day Waverly pushes her luck too far. She disrespects her mother by telling her that she was embarrassed when she went out with her, and then she ran away. When Waverly returned home later that day her mother was angry and said, “We not concerning this girl. This girl not have concerning for us.” Waverly’s mother had won that game Waverly says, “I saw a chessboard with sixty-four black and white squares. Opposite me was my opponent, two angry black slits. She wore a triumphant smile.” This shows that Waverly had underestimated her mom in the “game of life”. She thought that she could take advantage of her because she was so proud of her daughter and wanted her to do the best she could at playing chess. In conclusion, one of the things that this story says about people in general is, don’t underestimate our opponent.
I can connect to the theme of the story “Rules of the Game”. I can make a connection to the theme of the story with the movie Mean Girls. In the movie a girl named Cady was very quite and kind girl, who kept to herself. This other girl named Regina was nasty, loud and superficial. Regina makes fun of Cady and says things behind her back that get her into trouble. Secretly Cady was sabotaging Regina’s social life. It eventually worked, Cady rewind Regina’s social life. Regina underestimated Cady, and thought that she wouldn’t fight back. Just like Waverly underestimated her mother.
The story “The Rules of the Game”, by Amy Tan, says a lot about people in general. This story shows that people can change and are easily influenced. In this story, as Waverly began playing chess, her mother kept saying how it was all just luck that she was winning and was very modest about it. Later she began to show Waverly off in front of people, which showed that she was influenced by the American ways of life. Also, Waverly was influenced by her success in chess. She became a child prodigy and even made it to the cover of Life magazine. Her success though, almost went to her head. For example, Waverly no longer had to share a room or finish her dinner while her other siblings did. In addition, she didn’t think she had to respect her mother anymore. Another change was when Waverly’s mom decided to go back to some of her Chinese ways of life when she decided to ignore Waverly at the dinner table, after Waverly had made a scene and disrespected her mother. Her mother was done treating her special.
I can connect to how people can change their ideas and customs. In an episode of the show, 90210, a family moved from Kansas to Beverly Hills. People are really different in Beverly Hills and when the parents find out that their daughter goes off on a private jet for the afternoon for lunch with a guy, they aren’t sure how to handle it. Like Waverly’s mother, new to America, the mother isn’t sure if she should discipline her daughter or if that’s normal for high school kids in California. Though she’s in a new area, the mother doesn’t change her expectations for her kids and realizes that her morals are the same. She also believes that those are something that shouldn’t change even though they moved. This is just like Waverly’s mothers situation because they both had to decide if they were going to let where they were influence the way they handled the situations. That is what “The Rule of the Game” says about people in general and how I can connect to the theme of the story.
The short story “Rules of The Game” by Amy Tan says a lot about people in general. The main theme spread throughout this book is the power of greed. In the beginning of this story Waverly is a young girl who gets introduced to chess by her brothers. In a matter of no time she is a national chess champion and was only 429 points away from becoming a chess grand-master. Every victory that she won she also became greedier. She now doesn’t have to do chores and doesn’t have to finish her dinner. She even had her photo in Life magazine. Still when her mother wants to brag about Waverly she gets to greedy and talks back to her mother and runs away. Waverly’s parents are so made when she finally gets home they tell her they are not concerning her. All the greed for wanting more than what she made Waverly talk back and get her mother mad at her. I can connect to this book because recently some major companies in the financial crisis have been very greedy. A number of CEO’s have gotten bonus of up to 50 million dollars while their company is losing money every day. These CEO’s are displaying greed just as Waverly was.
The story, “Rules of the Game,” says about people in general is that people can adapt to having a natural gift. Waverly, the main character in the story, learned how to play chess from her older brothers. She lost every time to her brothers. She challenged an old man to play her in a chess game, he beat her as well. But, he taught her to become a better chess player. He taught her everything he knew. She had won every game of chess she played once she mastered the game. She was put into tournaments. Soon enough, she was a national chess champion by her ninth birthday. It seemed like she was given a gift. But, the story also showed that it was telling the readers that people would take advantage of the gifted ones as well. For instance, in the story, Waverly’s mother took advantage of her because she was the best chess player in Chinatown. She would show off her daughter to everyone in town because she knew people admired her daughter and her chess playing skills. She would tell the employees, “ This is my daughter, Waver-ly Jong,” to try to get items for a lower price or free so they wouldn’t have to pay as much for anything in the store they were in. I can connect to this because I have seen a movie called, “Air Bud.” There was this dog named Buddy. He had a terrible owner, so he ran away and found someone else who would treat him respectfully. Buddy found his new owner, who was a young boy named Josh Framm, playing basketball. Buddy joined in with the boy, making every shot with his nose. Josh took him home and showed him to his mom. Then, Josh had him try out for his school’s basketball team. Buddy’s talent had helped the team win each game. But, Buddy’s old owner acknowledged his gift, so he tried to get Buddy back to have him as his own again. It is so he can show Buddy off in his clown acts.
The story “Rules of the Game” by Amy Tan shows how people in general act, and how often each individual’s objectives can conflict with another person. The story is centered on a nine-year-old Chinese American girl named Waverly. Waverly has a deep passion for chess, and she compares life to chess often; some of her personality in the story can be seen through the quotes, “As I began to play, the boy disappeared, the color ran out of the room, and I saw only my white pieces and his black ones waiting on the other side,” and ”I won again, but it was my mother who wore the triumphant grin… I was annoyed, but I couldn’t say anything.”
Her mother is a proud, hard working parent who cares greatly about her and has done much for her nine-year-old daughter. The quote, “My mother implanted her daily truths so she could help my older brothers and me rise above our circumstances,” is an example of this. She takes pride in Waverly, and shows off Waverly whenever possible, in spite of her ‘proper Chinese humility.’ The quote, “Why do you have to use me to show off?” sums up Waverly’s opinion about her mother’s actions.
I can connect with this story by interacting with human life; all humans have their own objectives: their wants, needs, and desires. When two people with different objectives meet, there will always be a battle of wills. This story is a depiction of the conflict that occurs when two objectives disagree. I’m sure all people have experienced this type of conflict throughout their lives. For my own example, I will use my decision in choosing clubs. (The following statement is hypothetical, people!). My mother wanted me to join the Math Team, whilst I wanted to join the Debate Team. This drew us into conflict, and we argued for days. Basically, the theme of the story is that all people have their own desires, which often conflict. In order for progression to occur, we must solve our conflicts.
The story “Rules of the Game” by Amy Tan shares a valuable lesson about people in general, saying that people are never satisfied with what they have. This story is mostly about a Chinese girl named Waverly Jong and her mother. Their family lives in San Francisco’s Chinatown. During the story, one of Waverly’s brothers gets a chess set at a Christmas party at their church. Waverly becomes very interested in the game, and ends up learning from an old man who plays at the park in her neighborhood named Lau Po. Waverly soon starts competing in local chess tournaments and won all of them. By her ninth birthday she was a national chess champion. The first way we see someone never being satisfied is in Waverly’s mom. After Waverly wins her first tournament her mother scolds her for loosing too many pieces, as if winning wasn’t good enough. The next way we see this greed is in Waverly. Her mother lets her be exempt from chores and gets special privileges such as not having to eat all her food at dinner and even a new room. One day when she has to do her only chore, go to the market with her mom, her mom embarrassed her by telling everyone she sees how her daughter is a national chess champion. Instead of thinking how great she has it now, Waverly goes off on her mom, telling her how, “I wish you wouldn’t do that, telling everyone I’m your daughter.” After getting in a fight with her mom, she runs away and returns later that night. Assumedly, Waverly lost some of her special privileges after that incident.
I can relate to this in my own life as well. My bike is my pride and joy. I spend hours fixing and generally making her a better bike. But, I’m human and nothing can ever be good enough for me. One day I decided to take apart the bottom bracket, the part that keeps the cranks and pedals spinning. I took it apart fine, and I cleaned it how I was supposed to, and I thought I put it back together right. It turns out I put in a spacer backwards, and it ended up doing about 50 dollars in damage. Although everything works fine now, I would be 50 dollars richer if I had just been able to be satisfied with what I had.
The story, “Rules of the Game”, shows that as long as people in general have pride, there will always be conflict. This is quite evident in the story. For example, while both Waverly and her mother both have pride for her accomplishments, Waverly doesn’t want her mother showing her off. Her mother views this as Waverly’s selfish desire of keeping the pride of being a chess prodigy all to herself rather than sharing it with her family. As you can see, this is a blatant example of how pride creates conflicts between people. Another example in the story is when she returns home and is shunned by her family. Her mother refuses to acknowledge her because of her own pride, because losing her control over her daughter would also be losing her pride and joy. However, Waverly also does not attempt to compromise with her mother due to her own pride. These are not the only examples. Another instance is when her mother watches her play chess and pesters her to lose fewer pieces. She thinks that the less pieces you lose, the greater the win, so the greater the win, the more pride her mother gets. Waverly has a different opinion. She is proud of herself for winning no matter how many pieces she loses. Again, it is a conflict created by pride. It is quite obvious that pride, although useful and generally a great trait, sometimes blinds a person’s judgment.
I can easily connect to this story. I, also, conflicted with my own mother when I wanted privacy, something every kid strives for one point for from his or her own parents. To me, my parents were pestering and annoying. I never really appreciated them, just shrugged them off at one point in my life. What created this conflict was how proud I was of myself, because I had become so independent that I felt that I no longer needed my parents help. I was able to do just that, but after the conflict, I realized that although I did strive independently, I prospered with the help of my parents. I would have realized this early if I had looked past my pride and let my parents help me. In both instances, you can see that as long as people have pride, there always will be conflict.
This story shows that people have lots of pride. Waverly’s mother especially has a great amount of pride. For example, she is proud of her country. She says that Chinese people are “not lazy like American people.” She talks about how Chinese people are the best at doing things such as torture. This reminds me of some restaurant owners that I know. They are very proud of their business and claim that they make the best food in town. Even if these statements are just opinions and might not actually be true, the people saying them have pride that makes them believe that they are. Waverly’s mother takes her pride a little too far when she goes around the market place, bragging to anyone who would look her way that Waverly Jong, the famous chess player, was her daughter. I can relate to this because in my life, it irritates me when all people can talk about is their accomplishments, such as their good grades or talent in sports. Bragging all the time makes them seem insecure, like they need to show off to feel better about themselves. These are situations when people can take pride too far.
The story “Rules of the Game” says that people in general can achieve their goals if they work hard enough at it. In the story, Waverly is interested in chess from a young age. She reads library books, studies pieces, and plays games with more experienced chess players to learn about the game. This is shown when Amy Tan writes, “I found out about all the whys later. I read the rules and looked up all the words…borrowed books from the Chinatown library…studied each piece.” It’s clear that her hard work pays off later in the story when it says “By my ninth birthday, I was a national chess champion…They ran a photo of me in Life magazine…” Waverly’s success is clearly due to her hard work. Without all her efforts, she would never have been able to achieve her goal.
I can connect this to my own life as well. I’ve always found that the harder I work at something, the more I improve at it. For example, when I began playing the flute I wasn’t very good. After years of practicing often, I’ve definitely improved. The theme of the story also connects to a book that I’ve read. In Harry Potter, Harry often practices important spells outside of class to assure that when he needs them, he is able to perform them.
I think that “Rules of the Game,” shows that people in general are proud of themselves. They always like to show off what they have. In the story, Waverly’s mother shows off Waverly to the world and she is so proud of her daughter. The story also shows that people in general tend to try their best at things in life. People always try to go for their goals and never give up. In the story, Waverly learns all new techniques and skills to use in chess and in tournaments. She doesn’t give up learning chess and she goes for her goals. A third thing that this story shows about people in general is that they respect their elders. Normally, people would respect anyone older than them. Now, in this century, not everyone is taught to respect their elders. In the story, although Waverly wants to yell at her mom, she knows that it is wrong and she “holds her tongue.” I can connect to the theme in this story in a few ways. I can connect to how Waverly’s mom is very proud of her and shows her off to the world. In my life, I have seen many people that were proud of them and showed themselves off. My cousins are rather wealthy and when I go over there sometimes, my aunt and uncle like to show off my cousins and their accomplishments. I can also connect by the little engine who could. My mom used to read that story to me when I was a kid and this story reminds me of it. Waverly doesn’t give up learning chess just like the little engine who could didn’t give up.
The short story “Rules of the Game” by Amy Tan says that nobody is perfect and you can’t assume that somebody is. The story is about a second generation immigrant, Waverly Jong, and how she discovers the game of chess, and eventually becomes a chess prodigy. The story is also about Waverly’s relationship with her mother. In the book, Waverly is always has to listen to her mother. She can’t speak out, and she always has to obey. Waverly’s mother expects nothing but the best from Waverly and is very proud of her. When Waverly becomes a chess champion however, her mother who doesn’t know many rules of chess tells Waverly to lose fewer pieces even though that is part of the strategy. Waverly however, cannot say that she is mad or that her mother is wrong, she can only sit there and obey her mother, which is what she does during the next tournament. And when Waverly’s mom starts to brag about Waverly, Waverly says very quietly, without a lot of anger in her voice, “I wish you wouldn’t do that…” her mother starts to become mad. Waverly’s mom grips Waverly’s hand tighter and turns the whole situation into something different, and in my opinion, blowing the whole situation out of proportion. Waverly runs away and the mom thinks that it’s all Waverly’s fault, and that she herself had nothing to do with this. No daughter or son is perfect, and she should know that. Waverly’s mother was ignorant and could not see what she did wrong and blamed it all on her daughter. She wants her child to never talk back and keep all her emotions to herself which is near impossible for most children. Waverly too didn’t really need to be annoyed at her mother when she told her to lose less chess pieces, after all, Waverly’s mother was only trying to help. After Waverly runs away, the relationship between her and her mother is strained and she wonders how to make it right again.
I can personally connect to this story. My parents expected me to be perfect too. I couldn’t even speak against them or I would be grounded or punished. I guess in my culture you have to respect your elders, and you can’t even say a teensy thing bad or anything that contradicts them. One day however, my emotions got the best of me, and I said some things that no child should ever say to their parents. After that, my mom and dad wouldn’t even talk to me, they gave me the silent treatment. It was horrible, and I wondered how to make things right again, just like Waverly when narrated at the end, “I closed my eyes and pondered my next move”. I eventually did make it up with my parents, however our relationship wasn’t the same as before I yelled at them. The readers however do not know whether Waverly does make it up with her parents.
The theme of the short story has everything to do with independence, pride, and respect. This can be seen through Waverly's attempt to separate herself from her mother after her mother seems to smothering and starting to show her off. For example " But I found it difficult to concentrate at home. My mother had a habit of standing over me. ...I think she thought of herself as my protective ally." This shows her mother being proud of her daughter but shows how Waverly feels like it is too much. This eventually leads to a point where she has to much and pushes away completely. This would obviously be the part where she runs away and hides. Later her mother's pride would be hurt and she would say "We not concerning this girl. This girl not have concerning for us." This also has a second meaning that says you could be the CEO of some big company and if you don't respect your elders then you will never truly succeed. For example my own mother says that "You need to win over your parents before you can win over anyone else." Waverly's need of independence is fueled by her mother unacceptable of independence. What this means is that she wants Waverly to succeed but not so everyone around her is hurt. This is my take on the central theme of the short story, "Rules of the Game", by Amy Tan.
In the story “Rules of the Game” it shows that people in general can push each others limits without even realizing it. During the story Waverley’s mom pushes Waverley a lot without even knowing it. Waverly’s mom just wants the best for her daughter so she pushes her over the limit. For example, after Waverly was named a chess prodigy Waverly’s mom make chess into a chore instead of a hobby. She even states that, “ you should lose less pieces,” but doesn’t realizes it doesn’t matter how many pieces you lose as long as you capture the king. The one action that pushed Waverley over the limit was when her mom deiced to show her off in the market until Waverley tells her, “If you want to show off, then why don’t you learn to play chess?” This caused Waverley to run away. Waverley may have thought that she won that battle of finally standing up to her mother, but she actually lost her mothers approval and felt disappointed in herself. Her mother even said, “We not concerning this girl. This girl not have concerning for us.”
One way I can connect to this is that when I was in seventh and eighth grade I played in band. At first it was very fun I was learning a new instrument, playing new songs, and I was good at it, but by the time I started eighth grade I was embarrassed of what instrument I played and it was no longer fun for me to play the tuba. It was a hassle to practice and my parents put in a lot of money for me to be a good tuba player but I did not want to play any longer. I thought I won the battle when let l me quit band coming into the ninth grade but I actually lost the battle because I felt there disappointment and felt like I had to do something to gain there approval again.
I think this story shows how greed and pride can really get in the way of the closest relationships. The main character in this story, Waverly Jong, is a young girl who lives with her mother and brothers in Chinatown, in San Francisco. When she starts playing chess at a young age, her mother disapproves of the rulebook, saying that Americans have too many rules, ‘better you take it, find out the whys yourself.’ When Waverly finally starts getting good, her mother would sit and watch her play with pride, but also with humility, and being modest about Waverly’s success. Waverly and her mother start to disagree as Waverly moves up through the ranks, finally landing herself a National Championship award. Her mother begins to try and tell Waverly how to play chess, saying ‘Next time win more, lose less,’ referring to the number of pieces that Waverly loses each game. Waverly is annoyed-she knows how to play and its not about how many pieces you lose, and she doesn’t want her mother telling her what to do anymore. She finally gets so worked up that she tells her mother that she is embarrassed that she keeps getting shown off and told what to do. Her mother responds furiously, asking if Waverly is ashamed of her own mother. Waverly runs away and when she returns, her mother says ‘We not concerning this girl. This girl not have concerning for us.’ Waverly goes to bed, and I think that she finally realizes that her mother showing her off is her own way of showing her pride in Waverly’s achievements, and her seemingly controlling persona is her way of trying to keep Waverly the way she was before chess, an innocent, respectful young girl.
I can really connect to this because I have a lot of issues with my mother, and she is very controlling of me, and she also demands respect at all times. If I am doing something well or some success of mine goes to my head, she is sure to keep me in check and remind me of my place. We fight a lot over my freedom, but I think the reason she restricts my life so much is because she doesn’t want me to grow up too fast.
“Rules of the game” by Amy Tan is about a girl named Waverly Jong who becomes a world chess champion before her 9th birthday. This short story really illustrates how hard work really pays off. At the beginning of the story, Waverly doesn’t know how to play chess. However she applies herself and the results of her hard work are really evident. She “read the rules and looked up all the big words in the dictionary. I borrowed books from the Chinatown library.” After a while, she started winning against her brothers, and soon against opponents many years older than her.
The movie “Akeela and the Bee” is another story that shows how hard work pays off. Akeela works many hours on spelling, sacrificing her time to study. After countless hours of hard work, she finally succeeded and won the national spelling bee.
This reminds me of my own life. Last year, we were learning about chemical equations in science class. At first, I was baffled. How do you balance an equation with coefficients? What is a reactant? I wondered. That whole week, I stayed after school with my teacher, read all of the articles I could find on the internet, and reviewed my notes numerous times. Soon, I finally got to understand it and got a great grade on the test.
Post a Comment